I Am the Good Shepherd: 'Monday Morning Musing - June 13, 2022'

 

Jesus’s claim to be the good shepherd was a direct challenge to how the Jewish religious authorities viewed themselves and their function as representatives of Yahweh to the people of God.

 

Copyright 2022. Dr. Stephen R. Crosby. www.stevecrosby.org. For video and audio resources, sign up as a student here. You will find a mix of both free resources and those with cost. This ministry is sustained by the freewill offerings of those believe in the message of a radical grace in a new covenant understanding. If this blog article has been a blessing to you, would you prayerfully consider making a contribution through our Paypal button to help? Stephanos Ministries is NOT a 501-c-3 corporation Click here to understand why. Thank you and God bless you.

I am the Bread of Life: 'Monday Morning Musing - June 6, 2022'

 

For the next few weeks we will be looking at the I Am statements of Jesus as an existential threat to the Jewish religious establishment. Their deep convictions regarding themselves, their calling as individuals and as a people, their function as priests and teachers, the Torah, the Temple and their national identity were all challenged by the I Am statements. The aggregated effect of them was instrumental in their desire, even need to have Jesus killed. According to their understanding of Torah, He deserved it. In this first episode we will briefly look at the “bread of life” claim Jesus made.

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Copyright 2022. Dr. Stephen R. Crosby. www.stevecrosby.org. For video and audio resources, sign up as a student here. You will find a mix of both free resources and those with cost. This ministry is sustained by the freewill offerings of those believe in the message of a radical grace in a new covenant understanding. If this blog article has been a blessing to you, would you prayerfully consider making a contribution through our Paypal button to help? Stephanos Ministries is NOT a 501-c-3 corporation Click here to understand why. Thank you and God bless you.

Jesus IS the Intercession: 'May 30, 2022'

 

Jesus in resurrection is not eternally begging and pleading with God the Father to be benevolent unto us. According to Hebrews 7:25, Jesus alive in resurrection, seated at the right hand of the father, as a representative of the new human race IS the intercession. Intercession is not something Jesus is doing. It is something that Jesus IS, raised from the dead.

Photo by Phil on Unsplash

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Copyright 2022. Dr. Stephen R. Crosby. www.stevecrosby.org. For video and audio resources, sign up as a student here. You will find a mix of both free resources and those with cost. This ministry is sustained by the freewill offerings of those believe in the message of a radical grace in a new covenant understanding. If this blog article has been a blessing to you, would you prayerfully consider making a contribution through our Paypal button to help? Stephanos Ministries is NOT a 501-c-3 corporation Click here to understand why. Thank you and God bless you.

 

By Stephen Crosby Posted in Prayer

The New Marcionism?: 'A Critique by Michael Hardin May 23, 2022'

Those who claim that Jesus–specifically Jesus at the cross–is the final, complete and definitive image of God, clarifying other misrepresentations and misinterpretations of God in Scripture are likely (sooner or later) to be accused by their critics of of being a “Marcionite”. This is a straw-man argument, often coming from folks who should know better.
 
In this episode, I briefly introduce the topic and share a link to an article by my friend, Michael Hardin. In it, he responds to an article by N.T. Wright who calls a non-violent, non-sacrificial, Christocentric hermeneutic the “New Marcionism.”
 
I urge you to read the article. For some, it might be too technical if you are not familiar with the issues. However, there is much at stake beyond the slander in the accusation.

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7-38-55 Communication: 'Monday Morning Musings - February 28, 2022'

 

The words we may speak account for only ~7% of what constitutes human communication. No wonder our churches and our culture are so conflict-prone. We don’t know how to talk to each other, including and especially “Christians.”

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The Amen: 'Monday Morning Musings - February 21, 2022'

There is more behind “amen” than intellectual consent or emotional enthusiasm for an abstract concept.

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God Inhabits the Praises of His People: 'May 2, 2022'

What were temporarily inhabited praises being sung in the old economy have be come permanently inhabited people by the indwelling union with the Spirit of Christ in the new.

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Copyright 2022. Dr. Stephen R. Crosby. www.stevecrosby.org. For video and audio resources, sign up as a student here. You will find a mix of both free resources and those with cost. This ministry is sustained by the freewill offerings of those believe in the message of a radical grace in a new covenant understanding. If this blog article has been a blessing to you, would you prayerfully consider making a contribution through our Paypal button to help? Stephanos Ministries is NOT a 501-c-3 corporation Click here to understand why. Thank you and God bless you.

 

 

The “Take-You-into-the-Presence-Person”: 'March 28, 2022'

“I have the ministry of taking people into the presence of God.” So, said a famous worship leader. That’s odd. I thought Jesus has done that already. I thought we were always in His presence since He indwells us by the Spirit. In order to make that kind of statement, a person has to draw upon bad Old Covenant typology. There is no such thing as a “taker-into-the-presence-ministy” in the new era, other than the Person of Christ by the Spirit. We certainly don’t need to sing and carry on for half an hour or more to try to get to some adrenaline-filled “place” called “the Presence of the Lord.”

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Copyright 2022. Dr. Stephen R. Crosby. www.stevecrosby.org. For video and audio resources, sign up as a student here. You will find a mix of both free resources and those with cost. This ministry is sustained by the freewill offerings of those believe in the message of a radical grace in a new covenant understanding. If this blog article has been a blessing to you, would you prayerfully consider making a contribution through our Paypal button to help? Stephanos Ministries is NOT a 501-c-3 corporation Click here to understand why. Thank you and God bless you.

The Anointing: 'April 25, 2022'

The anointing is virtually a fetish, an object of desire, in many types of churches, especially Pentecostal/Charismatic types. For some the anointing is measured by “the preaching of the Word.” For others it is associated with praise and worship. Like in so many things, we are running on Old Covenant octane when this topic comes up.

 

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Copyright 2022. Dr. Stephen R. Crosby. www.stevecrosby.org. For video and audio resources, sign up as a student here. You will find a mix of both free resources and those with cost. This ministry is sustained by the freewill offerings of those believe in the message of a radical grace in a new covenant understanding. If this blog article has been a blessing to you, would you prayerfully consider making a contribution through our Paypal button to help? Stephanos Ministries is NOT a 501-c-3 corporation Click here to understand why. Thank you and God bless you.

Spirit, Soul and Body: ONE INTEGRATED Being: 'May 16, 2022'

In some Evangelical churches and in many Charismatic churches, Paul’s use of spirit, soul and body in 1 Thess. 5:23 is understood as a hierarchy of being and a hierarchy of value. This is essentially a Gnostic interpretation that seriously misunderstands Paul’s fluid and interchangeable use of those terms.

Photo by Nick Page on Unsplash

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Copyright 2022. Dr. Stephen R. Crosby. www.stevecrosby.org. For video and audio resources, sign up as a student here. You will find a mix of both free resources and those with cost. This ministry is sustained by the freewill offerings of those believe in the message of a radical grace in a new covenant understanding. If this blog article has been a blessing to you, would you prayerfully consider making a contribution through our Paypal button to help? Stephanos Ministries is NOT a 501-c-3 corporation Click here to understand why. Thank you and God bless you.